1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air direction control apparatus of an air outlet of an air conditioner, for changing the direction of flow of discharged air.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional air direction control apparatus of an air conditioner is disposed at an upper area of a cabinet 1 thereof, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, and extends across a discharge outlet 3 for discharging indoors the air which has been infused into the cabinet 1 and heat-exchanged therein.
The discharge outlet 3 is provided with a plurality of horizontal control blades 5 and vertical control blades 7 for controlling the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively, of the air supplied into a room.
Furthermore, the discharge outlet 3 is provided at one side thereof with an air direction control apparatus for changing the inclinations of the blades 5 and 7 to thereby control the air flow direction. That air direction control apparatus according to the prior art is, as illustrated in FIG. 3, coupled with a plurality of blades 11 which could correspond to either the blades 5 or the blades 7.
Each of the blades 11 carries aligned pins 11a, 11b which are pivotally mounted to fixed support plates (not shown). Each blade 11 includes also a pin 11c coupled to a connecting rod 13 for simultaneously rotating the plurality of blades 11.
The connecting rod 13 is connected to a motor (not shown) via a predetermined known power transmission mechanism for changing a rotary motion of a motor output shaft to a rectilinear motion of the rod 13.
In the prior art air direction control apparatus of an air conditioner thus constructed, when the motor is rotated by a predetermined amount to rectilinearly move the connecting rod 13 via a power transmission mechanism, the blades 11 are rotated to a predetermined inclination. Then the motor 31 is stopped.
However, there is a problem in the air direction control apparatus of an air conditioner thus constructed according to the prior art, in that all of the blades 11 are coupled to one connecting rod 13, so that, as illustrated in FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C, all of the blades move together in the same direction and thus all blades discharge the air in the same direction. This limits the versatility of air flow control.